The potential educational benefits of extending foster care to young adults: Findings from a natural experiment

Research has demonstrated the employment and earnings benefits accompanying educational attainment, and the relatively poor educational attainment and economic well-being of young people who transition to adulthood from foster care. Policymakers' concern over these poor outcomes has long been reflected in U.S. child welfare policy, most recently in the provisions of the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success Act allowing states to claim federal reimbursement for extending foster care from age 18 to age 21. While the policy of allowing youth to remain in foster care past age 18 has promise as a strategy for helping them continue their education, empirical evidence of its impact is lacking. Using data from a longitudinal study of youth (n = 732) who transitioned to adulthood from foster care, this study takes advantage of between-state policy variation in the age at which youth are required to leave care to assess the relationship between extended foster care and educational attainment at age 26. Distinguishing between not having obtained a high school diploma or GED, having only a high school diploma or GED, and having obtained at least one year of college, each additional year in care is associated with a 46% increase in the estimated odds that former foster youth will progress to the next level of educational attainment, controlling for a range of youth characteristics measured at ages 17–18. Background characteristics including youth's gender, race, employment, parenting, educational performance and aspirations, and indicators of behavioral health problems are also associated with educational attainment in early adulthood.     

Latent classes of older foster youth: Prospective associations with outcomes and exits from the foster care system during the transition to adulthood

Youth in the foster care system face considerable challenges during the transition to adulthood. However, there is significant variability within this population. This study uses person-oriented methods and a longitudinal dataset of youth aging out of foster care to examine differences in how subgroups of foster youth fare during the transition to adulthood. We identified four distinct latent classes, consistent with prior person-oriented studies of this population, and validated these classes by examining differences on additional relevant factors at age 17. After establishing these classes, we tested their predictive validity by examining differences in outcomes at age 19 in domains relevant to the transition to adulthood, including education and employment, problem behaviors, and mental health problems. Finally, given the importance of extended foster care in promoting better outcomes, we used survival analysis to prospectively examine whether class membership was associated with differences in the rates at which youth left foster care between ages 17 and 19. One large group of youth exhibited moderate behavior problems and left care quickly, while another large group of resilient youth had favorable outcomes and left care relatively slowly. A small group exhibited considerable behavior and mental health problems, but left care more slowly, and a very small group was characterized by a history of pregnancy. Findings suggest considerable variability in service need among older foster youth. Implications for service provision during the transition to adulthood are discussed.     

The Family and Social Networks of Recently Discharged Foster Youth

Many youth leave foster care with disrupted relationships with family and others in their social networks. Previous research has documented the severe adversity that former foster youth face in the transition to young adulthood. Some of these difficulties are at least partially related to a lack of social support that results from frayed relationships. The purpose of this research was to examine the role that social support plays in the transition to adulthood. It was hypothesized that foster youth with higher levels of social support would make more successful adaptations to early adulthood than youth without that support. Ninety-seven former foster youth were followed for 2 years. Youth reported low levels of “feeling close to parents,” but higher levels of “closeness” were expressed for other relatives. Findings were mixed. Organizational involvement and having many “close” friends were associated with better outcomes. On the other hand, family contact and family support was inversely associated with resiliency. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Responsive engagement in mental health services for foster youth transitioning to adulthood

ABSTRACT

As youth near the transition to adulthood and aging out of the foster care system, exposure to stress increases, especially for youth who have less-than-adequate support systems. Although mental health problems among foster youth often continue into adulthood, service use decreases dramatically within a year of turning age 18. Understanding how foster youth experience mental health services as they transition from care provides social workers and other mental health professionals important insight that can lead to specific, targetable strategies. This study sought to explore what situations were helpful in supporting mental health as foster youth transitioned to adulthood. Focus groups and interviews with former foster youth and professionals informed the development of a quantitative instrument, which was used to identify the most supportive and frequently encountered situations former foster youth experienced. Findings indicate the most helpful situations were those in which professionals and mentors were flexible and responsive to their individual needs and trusted their ability to make decisions. Supportive adults who honored their choices and collaborated in decision-making were also helpful. Engaging, empowering, and partnering with transition-age youth may increase the likelihood of positive mental health outcomes for this population, offering implications for family-centered, strengths-based practice.     

Independent living services,adjudication status,and the social exclusion of foster youth aging out of care in the United States

Recent policy changes have increased the availability of independent living services (ILS) to foster youth aging out of care in the United States. Yet, it is possible that youth who are also involved in the juvenile justice system may have trouble accessing these services. This study uses a social exclusion framework to examine associations between independent living service receipt, adjudication status, and early adult outcomes for youth aging out of the U.S. foster care system. Outcomes and ILS receipt data for 7412 older youth from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) were used for this study. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used to explore the relationships among adjudication status, ILS, social exclusion, and social connectedness at age 19. Findings indicated that postsecondary education support and education financial services at baseline were related to a higher likelihood of being socially connected and lower likelihood of being socially excluded at age 19. Being an adjudicated delinquent and receiving special education and career services were related to a lower likelihood of being socially connected. This suggests that ILS are well-suited for youth already doing well, but may not do enough for those who struggle the most during this period.     

Employment outcomes of young parents who age out of foster care

Despite the high rate of early parenthood among youths in foster care, relatively little is known about the employment outcomes of young parents after they age out of the child welfare system. This study analyzed administrative data for 1943 recently emancipated youths who were the parent of at least one child. Like prior studies of former foster youths, this study finds that only half of the parents were employed at any point during the first four quarters after exiting care, most of those who worked were not consistently employed, and the earnings of parents who were employed were very low. Several demographic and placement history characteristics were associated with an increase or decrease in the odds of being employed and/or with total earnings among the parents who worked. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

A cost–benefit analysis of transitional services for emancipating foster youth

Over 24,000 youth “aged out” of the nation's foster care system in FY 2005. While independent living programs and other services are available to foster youth, and almost all states allow dependency courts to retain jurisdiction of foster youth beyond age 18, outcomes for former foster youth are disturbing. This paper describes a program to address these challenges by providing extended foster care benefits and support to former foster youth from their 18th to 23rd birthdays. A detailed cost–benefit methodology documents expected costs and key benefits of the program. According to this cost–benefit analysis, a program providing funding and guardian support for former foster youth is projected to result in net benefits to the State of California over the 40-year careers of participating former foster youth. The program, if successful for all youth, would increase lifetime earnings and taxes paid due to increased education and would lower use of TANF and prison, resulting in a benefit–cost ratio of 1.5 to 1, using discounted present value dollars. Even at 75% success, the ratio is 1.2 to 1, showing a net benefit to society. This methodology can also be used to assess the costs and benefits of similar programs.     

Experiences of youth who transition to adulthood out of care: Developing a theoretical framework

Adverse adulthood outcomes are well documented among youth who age out of foster care. However, not all youth who age out of care experience deleterious adult outcomes, despite struggling with similar challenges during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Childhood maltreatment, which places youth at greater risk for later maladaptive functioning and psychopathology, may partially explain poor adjustment outcomes in adulthood. Similarly, a history of unstable placements and residing in institutional congregate care settings may also contribute to hardship during this time. However, none of these factors help to explain how some young people aging out of care manage to achieve stability while transitioning into adulthood. This article reviews the literature through the lens of the identity capital framework, and discusses the applicability of this framework to the experiences of youth aging out of foster care.     

Functional outcomes among sexual minority youth emancipating from the child welfare system

The heterogeneity of youth emancipating from the foster care system makes it difficult to establish the extent to which their functional outcomes are equivalent across different subgroups. In the present study, we use secondary data from the Multi Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs (MSEYP) to explore the challenges faced by sexual minority youths in comparison to their heterosexual peers. We focus on measurements of key independent living outcomes at age 19 to obtain a broad picture of how sexual minority youth fare during the period of transition to adulthood. Bivariate results indicate that the deficits for sexual minority youth are noteworthy across all categories of functional outcomes (i.e. education, employment, homelessness and financial stability). Furthermore, results from binary logistic regression models indicate that sexual orientation was associated with each category of functional outcomes, even when controlling for demographics and child welfare history factors. Findings suggest that sexual minority youth leaving foster care are particularly vulnerable to negative outcomes and may require more intensive supports during the period of transition to adulthood. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

School performance in primary school and psychosocial problems in young adulthood among care leavers from long term foster care

We used data from Swedish national registers for ten entire birth year cohorts (1972-1981) to examine psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood for youth that left long term foster care after age 17, comparing them with majority population peers, national adoptees and peers who had received in-home interventions before age 13. The population was followed in the registers from age 16 to 2005. Data were analyzed in Cox regression models.Youth who left long term foster care had six-to eleven fold sex and birth year adjusted excess risks for suicide attempts, substance abuse and serious criminality from age 20, and for public welfare dependency at age 25. Overrisks were considerably lower for the in-home intervention group and the national adoptees. Adjusting results for poor school performance in the final year in primary school (ages 15-16) reduced overrisks by 38-52% for care leavers from long term foster care.Irrespective of issues of causality, poor school performance seems to be a major risk factor for future psychosocial problems among youth who age out of long term foster care. The results suggest that promoting foster children's school performance should be given high priority by agencies.     

Not too late: Effects of a diligent recruitment program for hard to place youth

Among child welfare professionals there is agreement on the negative consequences for youth who age out of foster care without an attachment to a caring adult. There is a particularly challenging sub-population of youth in foster care at highest risk for this scenario: special-needs youth who reside in a congregate care setting and who have been freed for adoption. This paper details the “Parent for Every Child” initiative (PFEC), a federally funded diligent recruitment program which targeted special needs youth who resided in congregate care settings and who had been freed for adoption. PFEC had two primary objectives: 1) identify effective recruitment strategies for matching caring adults with youth in need of permanence and (2) improve permanency outcomes for youth in the target population, inclusive of both legal and relational permanence. The methods used for studying the initiative are described as well as the study's randomly assigned participants, inclusive of both intervention and control groups. Findings related to the initiative's main goals are presented with respect to: the various recruitment strategies employed by project staff and staff working in the control condition; the extent to which those efforts yielded “matches” between youth in need and potential resource families; and, the extent to which youth enrolled in the PFEC project had better permanency outcomes compared to youth in the control group. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as promising directions for future research in this area.     

The voices of youth formerly in foster care: Perspectives on educational attainment gaps

As a population, youth who experience foster care graduate from high school at rates well below their non-foster care peers (National Working Group for Foster Care & Education, 2014). A Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) study was conducted to better understand the perspective of former foster youth on the graduation gap and their experience in school. Analysis of focus group data revealed one overarching domain, emotional consequences, as well as seven additional domains that related to youths' experiences surrounding their educational attainment: resilience, basic needs, internalized messages about education, educational stability, consequences of school mobility, fastest or easiest positive exit from K-12, and recommendations from youth. This research highlights the challenges faced by 16 former foster youth, their perspectives regarding the need to raise expectations, and their suggestions for closing the educational attainment gap.     

Youth with disabilities in the United States Child Welfare System

Existing literature suggests that youth with disabilities are known to be at increased risk of maltreatment in the form of abuse and/or neglect. Little is known, however, about the experiences of youth with disabilities who are living in foster care or who are supervised by child protection authorities. This study establishes a baseline estimate of the prevalence of youth with disabilities living in foster care, documents reasons for child protection system involvement, identifies placement types while youth are in care and explores case outcomes. This cross-sectional, exploratory study draws on data from the 2012 Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) for foster youth in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A sample of youth with disabilities (N = 36.492) and a comparison group without disabilities (N = 601.539) were identified. Findings about demographics, reasons for child removal, foster care placements, permanency planning goals and case outcomes are presented. Findings have implications for the prevention the removal of youth from caregivers, the need for family supports to prevent foster care involvement, the promotion of community inclusion of foster youth while in foster care and the need for inter-system collaboration at the transitional age stage.     

Post-permanency discontinuity: A longitudinal examination of outcomes for foster youth after adoption or guardianship

For over two decades, federal policies and case practices in child welfare have shifted to prioritize legal permanence for children in foster care, and increasing numbers of children have been placed in permanent adoptive or guardianship homes. Despite this change, little research has examined the long-term stability of legally permanent adoptive and guardianship homes for former foster youth. This study used child welfare administrative records to track a population of 51,576 children in Illinois who exited foster care through adoption or guardianship for ten years or until the age of majority. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to describe the population, and a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was estimated to examine the relationship between child age and discontinuity, controlling for several pre-placement characteristics. Results indicated that the vast majority (87%) of children did not experience post-permanency discontinuity. In addition, African American children and children who had more moves in foster care had a higher hazard of discontinuity, while children placed with siblings and children who spent three or more years in foster care had a lower hazard of discontinuity. Study findings also indicated that prevention efforts should be targeted at families with adolescents. This study contributes significantly to the scant literature on long-term outcomes for adoptive and guardianship families, and suggests several areas for future research.     

Instability in the lives of foster and nonfoster youth: Mental health impediments and attachment insecurities

Foster youth are at risk for negative mental health and psychosocial outcomes, including when they are on the brink of emancipation from care into self-sustained adulthood. Factors believed to affect outcomes among foster youth include residential and school instability. Although frequent moves to new homes and schools are common for youth living in poverty, instability for foster youth involves not only changing homes and schools but often also changes in caregivers, thus putting foster youth at risk for disrupted attachment relationships. For the current study, structural equation models examined links between instability, mental health problems, and attachment insecurities in foster and at-risk nonfoster youth. A model containing instability provided a better fit to the data than a model containing foster care status only. Group comparisons revealed that instability was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms for foster but not nonfoster youth. Implications of instability in the lives of foster youth are discussed.     

Pregnancy risk among older youth transitioning out of foster care

Youth served in the foster care system have higher rates of pregnancy than general population youth; yet we have little information about risk and protective factors to target in order to prevent early pregnancy in this population. We assessed early pregnancy risk and protective factors known for general population adolescents for their relevance to youth in the foster care system. Using data from a longitudinal study of 325 older youth from the foster care system, we examined bivariate and multivariate relationships between these factors and pregnancy between ages 17 and 19 using logistic regression. Models examined the risk for early parenting separately by gender. The pregnancy rate increased by 300% between ages 17 and 19. At 19, 55% of females had been pregnant, while 23% of males had fathered a child. Although this study assessed multiple known factors, few were significant for this high risk group. Females who were not sexually active at age 17 were less likely to become pregnant, but those who reported using birth control were as likely to become pregnant as those who did not. Also, females with a history of arrest were more likely to have a pregnancy between 17 and 19. Males who left the foster care system before their 19th birthday were more likely to make someone pregnant. Youth from the foster care system are at exceptional risk of early pregnancy, regardless of their maltreatment history, religiosity, school connectedness, or academic achievement, particularly in the years between 17 and 19. This high risk group needs pregnancy prevention interventions and access to effective birth control.     

Re-entry among former foster youth in early adulthood: Findings from illinois

On January 1, 2010, the Foster Youth Successful Transition to Adulthood Act went into effect in the state of Illinois to legally permit former foster youth who are at least 18 years old and not yet 21 years old to voluntarily re-engage with child welfare agencies and juvenile court to receive Supporting Emancipated Youth Services. Not much is known about the number or characteristics of foster youth who have taken advantage of this new opportunity to receive support following a hardship. This study used administrative data from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS) to describe foster youth who have legally re-entered out-of-home care after exiting through emancipation. Findings revealed that a low number of former foster youth re-entered out-of-home care. This article discusses possible explanations for why so few youth have re-entered out-of -home care when research suggests they may be at increased risk for making the transition to adulthood.     

An asset-based approach to facilitating positive youth development and adoption

The present study examined outcomes for youth in foster care who participated in an asset-based camp designed to build youth assets and facilitate adoption. The study addresses youth perceptions of their assets and the relationship between assets and adoption status. Youth perceived that their assets increased over time and adopted youth reported having more assets than youth who were not adopted. An asset-based approach may lead to positive outcomes for youth in foster care.     

On their own: The experiences of youth after foster care

This study used multiple means to identify 55 young adults who had left foster care in recent years. The young adults who had all emancipated from foster care under the auspices of social services were most often identified by former foster parents, social workers, or other foster youth. This sample of former foster youth are often struggling with ill health, poor educations, severe housing problems, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. Yet the youth in this sample may be surviving more ably than the many former foster youth whom we could not reach.The author thanks Rich Clarke, Pat Lovelock and Sharon Ikami. This study was prepared under Contra Costa County Contract #20-719.